The sixth documentary by Estonian-Dutch filmmaker and journalist Helga Merits. The documentary was made possible by working with multiple communities in Seabrook and Bridgeton, New Jersey.

In the 1950s Seabrook Farms was the biggest frozen food processing plant in the US and it needed farm and factory labour. The largest group of workers consisted of over 2,000 Japanese Americans who had been interned during the first years of the Second World War and had been looking for a new place to live. After the war, refugees from many countries in Europe came to Sea-brook Farms, amongst them were some 900 Estonians and 200 Latvians. Fifteen people from different ethnicities who grew up in Seabrook Farms tell their stories in the documentary.

They all had lost their homes and had to start again. Working at Seabrook farms meant seven day weeks with ever changing shifts, work that was both  physically and mentally draining. Amongst all the hardships they still found ways to keep up their cultural traditions and create new possibilities for their children.
At the same time jealousy and distrust drove the Seabrook family apart. Instead of creating a future for his sons, Mr Seabrook took it away from them.

The film sheds light on the puzzling history of the Seabrook family and their factory workers; people of different countries and cultural backgrounds who had no other place to go to. Their true-life stories of survival and perseverance reflect the struggles for freedom from war and oppression currently in today’s global headlines.

This is the first southwest screening of "The Paradox of Seabrook Farms," creating an opportunity to connect the stories from the industrial farm in Seabrook, New Jersey with the WWII Internment Camps here in the southwest that fueled its workforce.

The screening will be followed by a short Q&A.

"A study of a rare instance of positive unintended consequences. In New Jersey in the ’50s Charles F. Seabrook was creating the biggest food processing plant in the world. But he needed cheap labor, and historical developments provided him with plenty — Black families fleeing the Jim Crow South, Japanese families recovering from World War II internment, and refugees from Nazi and Soviet oppression fleeing Eastern Europe, including many from the Baltic countries. He exploited these desperate people, but also created a kin of hardscrabble, multicultural enclave that those who lived there as children recall with affection. A parable of capitalism at its worst — and best." -  Peter Keough, The Arts Fuse

"One of the most remarkable films featured in this year’s festival was a complete surprise: Helga Merits’ documentary The Paradox of Seabrook Farms (...)  Several Japanese, Latvian and Estonian Americans who had grown up in the Seabrook community were present in the audience. They shared their reactions to the film and their memories, extending the film’s powerful narrative into the discussion space." - Draugas News (March 2024), written by Laima Vincé about the Boston Baltic Film Festival: